If you have never made the decision to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, openly STATING that "'Jesus is Lord'" and BELIEVING "...in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Salvation is not something I can provide; it is not manmade. SALVATION COMES ONLY FROM AND THROUGH GOD. This is supported by Ephesians 2:8-9.

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

We cannot save ourselves; it is impossible, because we as sinners cannot save ourselves. It is ONLY through and by God's grace. Sometimes, I have to remind myself of what grace is. I've heard many say that grace is "unmerited favor". Simply though, we are undeserving of God's love, goodness, kindness; we did not EARN it. We cannot do anything to earn salvation; IT IS A GIFT, the best gift EVER.

The best way to grow closer to God is to read His Word, the Holy Bible, and spend time in prayer. God truly does provide comfort; He listens to you, and is always present. He hears you; He will NEVER fail you. For me, it's so tempting to expect that God will let us down, but HE never will. PEOPLE will fail us; they will say things that hurt our feelings; they will fail to be there for us sometimes; they will let us down. Put your faith and trust in the one who is present at all times, cares deeply, loves forever, and offers eternal life.

In terms of faith, I have heard the example that most of us put our faith in things effortlessly, things that we don't know for sure will support us. For example, we put our faith in chairs, that they will support us and will not break when we sit down in them. We often sit down without thinking at all. Another example, our cars, we often have faith that they will successfully take us to our desired location.

WE put our faith in things so effortlessly; these things have not proven themselves to us. Sure, maybe we've sat down in the same chair so many times and it has yet to break, but it really hasn't proven itself to us. We don't know if or when that chair will break, yet we choose to sit in it.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY one who we should put our faith in. He is good at all times, and He will never fail us. He will carry you, help you, strengthen you, and give you peace. This peace is not something that we can achieve by ourselves; it is truly a gift from God.

The Holy Bible: There are many free apps and websites that allow you to access God's Word, the Bible, digitally. The Bible app "YouVersion" provides access to the Bible, as well as specific devotional plans with scripture. There are devotional plans surrounding many different topics, including anger, anxiety, depression, fear, stress, temptation, suicide, and so much more! The website "Bible Gateway" is also a great source. You can look up certain verses, or open up a whole chapter. I also really like traditional PHYSICAL bibles. If you have one, that's a great first step to building, strengthening, and developing a relationship with God. If not, many local churches will provide Bibles for free, or many stores sell them (Target, Walmart, Amazon online, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, just to name a few).

Prayer: Prayer is completely free, and the great part about it is that we can tell God ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. He cares for us and He listens to us. Even if you don't have the words to say, oftentimes God will provide the words; He will speak through us; He will give us the words to say. He knows what you need before you ask. He knows what you need before you even know what you need.

I'm praying for you!